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Pitch Design on a Budget

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Written By: Kyle Harris

Building a Pitch Design Plan on a Budget

Premium Contributor - Kyle Harris

Kyle Harris joined the BR Premium writing team full time in January of 2019. He currently is the owner of FITCorps online personal training, a Physical Education teacher, as well as a hitting/pitching instructor at Bob Harris Baseball School in Ohio.

As a high school pitcher (I use that term very loosely), I developed a very good 12-6 curveball. I coupled that curveball with an above average fastball that was straight as an arrow.

My philosophy was throw hard, change speeds with a slow curveball, throw hard again, throw my curveball as hard as I could down in the zone and it worked really well when I was on. The problem? I was mostly “off”. My quasi-success, in spite of my bipolar mindset and erratic control, was due to accidental pitch design.

Back then, no one talked about pitch design or tunneling, but because I was able to do it accidentally I had two plus pitches that worked together synergistically

Pitch Tunneling

I was able to pair two above-average pitches that had opposite actions and effects. My arm slot was nearly identical for both pitches, as was the ball flight (referred to as “tunneling”).

Social Media

Today, if you’re researching, reading, or following social media, pitch design is very real, and highly discussed topic, that can get highly intricate with the use of technology and data. It can also get expensive.

One of the best follows on twitter is Rob Friedman ( @PitchingNinja) who has made the masses well aware of pitch design, tunneling, and creating a complimentary pitch arsenal.

The Technology Takeover

The use of Rapsodo Cameras and Edgertronic Cameras allow coaches and pitchers to work together to design pitches by seeing spin rate, spin direction/axis, pitch velocity, movement profiles, and location, as well as hand position, arm position, and release point via 17,000 frames per second.

Coupling the use of these cameras allows for instant feedback and pitch design that pitchers can use to “tunnel” their pitches, making two or more different pitches seem like the same pitch for long periods leading up to entering the hitting zone.

The issue is these cameras cost $4,000 and $18,000 respectively. Few training facilities, travel, high school, or even college programs can afford to drop $22,000 on pitch design alone. In fact, many cannot even afford the $4,000 it would cost to obtain a Rapsodo camera.

Small Budget Fix

**DISCLAIMER: Rapsodo is the official pitching spin tracking machine for Baseball Rebellion. This is for those who don't have it in their budget to afford one.**

Using these devices, we can record slow-motion video of our pitcher's release from behind the pitcher and plate, while the pitch tracker records and tracks velocity, spin rate, and spin direction. For around $100, you can take images of your pitchers' pitches and overlay them on the Hudl app. After overlaying, you can see if the pitchers are releasing their various pitches in similar windows and also if they are traveling toward the plate in similar trajectories (pitch tunneling). You can do all of this while you instantly record pitch spin rate and spin axis to see if fastballs and breaking balls will compliment each other.

For example, we have been recently using this format to transition three high school pitchers pitch repertoires, so that their respective pitches compliment each other. Here is their breakdown using the Diamond Kinetics Pitch Tracker and picture/video.

Athlete 1 Pitch Profiles

-Fastball- Almost True Backspin. Above average velocity and spin rate.

This athlete has a tremendous 4-seam fastball. We used the Diamond Kinetics Pitch Tracker to track his curveball spin. Originally, his pitch was gyroscopic and did not have much movement at all. We developed drills that worked for him and we were able to develop an almost true 12 to 6 curveball (6:55) that had tremendous drop.

Our focus with him is to use his 4-seam fastball up in the zone. Due to his high spin rate, his ball will have late life and appear to be faster than it actually is, almost appearing to rise.

By pairing this with a 12 to 6 curveball, he can begin learning how to “tunnel” these pitches for increased effectiveness.

-Slider (After) - Very late and good lateral movement (to glove side). Good vertical movement.

Notes:

This pitcher originally relied on his 4-seam fastball. Although it was a decent pitch because it had some movement and had above average velocity, using the DK Pitch Tracker made us realize that switching to a 2-seam fastball and learning to use natural pronation with specifically placed pressure on the outside portion of the middle finger increased spin rate and spin axis.

These changes in spin resulted in tremendous arm side movement and also resulted in some vertical movement to his fastball as well.

His original breaking ball was a knuckle curve and is a very good pitch in and of itself. We kept this pitch in his arsenal because of movement (1 to 7; 6:53), it has late-breaking action, and he has tremendous control of the pitch. However, we also added a second breaking pitch to complement his fastball movement.

We designed a slider for this young man that broke 2 to 8 (8:03 on the diagram). He has almost been able to get the exact opposite lateral movement when compared to his 2-seam fastball. Our plan is to use these pitches together down in the zone because of their increased perception of movement when thrown low.

Athlete 3 Profile (Using Video & Pictures)

The goal with athlete 3 was to take two really good pitches (fastball and knuckle curve) and make them better by keeping his arm slot and release point more consistently similar.

He had a tendency to drop down his arm on his curveball and make adjustments with his release point. We are trying to “tunnel” his pitches to make them more difficult to pick up by the batter.

In this situation, we used slow-motion video and screenshots of that video to compare. Using the Hudl Technique App, we can overlay these videos (you can use iMovie as well), sequencing them to be at release simultaneously.

Video

Slow motion video can be taken from catchers view, batters view, or from behind the pitchers. Review these for release point, hand position, ball movement, and they can compare the flight of the pitch to enhance pitchers abilities to “tunnel” the pitch, making it harder for the batter to recognize and react to the pitches.

Pictures

Below are sample pictures we took (Screenshots of the accompanying video) as he was working on replicating release point and armslot to further his ability to “tunel” these pitches.

This is to illustrate how effective a simple smart phone camera can be when designing pitches and working to replicate release. These pictures were screenshots of slow motion videos captured by an iPhone 6S.

Conclusion:

The implementation of pitch design should be better thought out and programmed than simply having pitchers play catch trying out different pitches.

There is a combination of both art and science in pitch development and the use of technology and data can provide the information needed for coaches and players to actually create complimentary pitches that can be used to improve effectiveness.

The cost of pitch design doesn’t have to be $4,000-$20,000 either. It can be effectively done by using a smart phone, a video app, and a Diamond Kinetics Pitch Tracker.

For the grand total of $150 (if you already posess a smart phone), you can accomplish what the pros do at a fraction of the cost. I promise you, the time and effort is low, but the rewards will be great and your pitchers and players will thank you for it.